Yamaha V4 needs “something else” after “difficult” Malaysian MotoGP
Augusto Fernandez admits Yamaha’s new V4 MotoGP prototype hit the same limits as Misano after a tough Sepang weekend: “We need pieces, we need something else.”
Augusto Fernandez says Yamaha’s new V4 prototype needs “something else” after another challenging wild-card outing at the Malaysian MotoGP.
Making its second grand prix appearance following September’s debut at Misano, the V4 showed modest progress but remained off the pace of both the Inline M1s and rival V4 machinery.
Fernandez was a distant +25.412s from the winner in the Sprint and +47.060s in the grand prix. At Misano, the gaps were +27.893s and +61.504s, respectively.
The deficit to the slowest of Yamaha’s full-time Inline-powered riders was +7.7s (Alex Rins) in the ten-lap Sprint and 21.9s (Jack Miller) in the double-length grand prix.
The V4, which is not yet running at maximum power, also stayed at the bottom of the top-speed charts, recording a best of 329.2 km/h, compared to 341.7 km/h for KTM’s Pedro Acosta.
The top speed of Yamaha’s Inline4 riders ranged from 333.3 km/h (Fabio Quartararo) and 336.4 km/h (Jack Miller).
“Difficult weekend for us,” said Fernandez. “We started the weekend worse than how we finished in Misano, so it felt like we had to start again discovering what we needed to find the base again.
“The positive thing is that with all the work we've done, we are now at the same point as how we finished the race in Misano.
“So I'm struggling in the same point, and the guys, after analysing all the data during all the weekend, we had the same problems in Misano.
“We can say that the positive is only this, because we have a clear direction to follow at least for the next test and the next race in Valencia.
“But we need pieces, we need something else. Because we did everything we could with what we have, [setting] wise.
“So at least we have a direction to take, but we need the engineers now to work on new things and follow this direction.”
After qualifying 23rd and last, Fernandez spent much of the race battling Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, who overtook him in the closing laps.
The Yamaha test rider’s next V4 wild-card appearance is scheduled for the Valencia season finale.
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